Aldemar Knossos Royal

Spent one week at the Aldemar Knossos Royal and had a fantastic holiday from start to finish. There are some other reviews on here that I can’t believe were about the same hotel because I couldn’t fault anything about the resort. So here goes my own review and opinion. The Aldemar is a huge resort with spotlessly clean grounds, some beautiful views and a wonderful little church tucked away just along the pathway. The resort does have steps and will not be the easiest resort to get around with a pushchair or wheelchair but it does state this in review of hotel but there are ways and means. The staff are all friendly and work extremely hard, Rula in the. Maritari Bar on the beach is the most amazing lady and makes the best fruity daiquiris, please go see her she’s lovely. The rooms are nice, cleaned every day, welcome gift of bottle of water and bottle of wine which is a lovely touch, included at no extra charge is a safe, plus there is a fridge and all other things you expect with free WiFi also. We were in room 605 so when you came out of the door and looked left there was the sea, wonderful. Food was fab, no problems for me, the chef was a lovely man named Petros who does the best roast lamb but the staff on the entrance to restaurant were all very friendly, a simple good morning goes a long way and why not, manners cost nothing. The TUI rep was a guy called Alex who was also lovely and would acknowledge you even when busy doing other things. But the hi-light off our holiday was the animation team “pink wave” headed up by Vincenzo, supported by Roberto, Giorgio, Emma, Nadia, Victor, Guiliana, Etienne, Arsen, Ariana and any others I’ve forgotten, they worked tirelessly all day long and half the night at the moment to perfect things to keep guests entertained, for me aqua will never be the same without Roberto who was the loveliest young man with the greatest sense of humour, we had a blast every day, they put on shows in the evening that they spend many hours rehearsing, plus quizzes which will be a lasting memory. These guys deserve the best they gave us a holiday that we will never forget. Aldemar Knossos Royal thank you for the memories we will return and recommend you to anyone looking for a great holiday.

We visited the Greek islands 20 years ago, and were apprehensive if the same hospitality was still there. On arrival @ Aldemar are doubts were soon gone, from reception to accommodation were we were looking forward to a great holiday. The buffet restaurant offered a wide range of food with different a main course every night with a wide range of food to suit everyone.We were all inclusive and the range and quality of drinks were excellent. The location & layout of Aldemar with superb gardens in a great setting. Thanks to all staff @ Aldemar, well done. We will definitely visit Aldemar again.

Myself and my husband stayed here for 11 nights from 5th May 2019 on an all inclusive basis. We arrived exhausted just after midnight and were driven by buggy to our room. The hotel is spread over a large area with the accommodation being ground or first floor and it would have been too far to walk with our bags. At the end of the stay we also got a lift back to reception with our bags, you need to request this but they are very obliging. We were looking forward to a cup of tea then a good sleep in the double bed we had so carefully booked online however the room had twin beds, which we specifically had not wanted. We shared a drink because we had only been left one small milk jigger. It was too late and we were too tired to worry about either of these things. It was early in the season but the room was very hot and the air conditioning wasn’t working. I rang reception to be told that it would be switched on the following day but hadn’t been needed yet as it hasn’t been hot. He advised us to leave a window open as there no mosquitos. We left the window open but closed it 2 hours later when we woke up covered in mosquito bites. The room was clean but basic and I found my bed comfortable although my husband disagreed. It was cleaned and we were left fresh towels daily (despite us being very lazy and not getting up until 11am) however the tea, coffee and milk was never replenished. We didn’t realise until we read about it on Tripadviser that we could have these for an additional charge of 5 euros a day! Needless to say, we did not pay that for a couple of sachets of coffee and a jigger of milk. All rooms have a terrace or balcony. As you walk around the complex you can see how they vary. We were on the first floor and had a very small balcony. There were 2 chairs and a table on the balcony however for both of us to sit on the chairs we would have had to bring the table inside as the balcony was so small. We didn’t bother. The shower is over the bath which is quite high. I’m 5ft 4” tall and had problems lifting my leg over it, especially to get out, as there nothing to grab onto. I resorted to getting my husband to help and we developed this lifting/falling manoeuvre. The air conditioning was switched on the following morning and consisted of warm air gently blowing into the middle of the ceiling accompanied by a continuous hum. We reported it broken several times and honestly don’t know if anyone looked at it but looking at the reviews it seems that the air con in general is very poor. Even though it was early in the season the room was ridiculously hot at night, even with the air con on full. As the holiday progressed the weather for hotter so the room became more and more unbearably hot. I can’t express how hot and uncomfortable the room was every night - like torture; it actually made us feel quite sick. We therefore didn’t sleep well throughout our stay. We thought to ask for a fan on day 8, we got one for the last night; I don’t think they’re readily available. There are 2 main pools near reception where we sat in the day. There was plenty of room and loungers for everyone with plenty in the shade, which suited us. There is a snack bar at the main pool where you can get light breakfast, lunch, drinks and snacks and a drinks bar at the smaller one. There was also a water slide at the smaller one which the kids seemed to love. There’s a useful store selling toiletries, snacks, sun cream etc, a jewellers, a clothes shop and a hairdresser by the bigger pool. There is free WiFi which works throughout the hotel (although seemed to work better by the pool than in our room - that may be a fluke). It comes and goes a bit and the signal is not always very strong. At times it’s fine and you can watch videos on it undisturbed, other times it keeps buffering and you end up giving up on it. There was an entertainment team who were friendly and chatty who arranged occasional activities such as aqua aerobics and darts; we didn’t partake. There is a music system on an island in the middle of the larger pool where one of the entertainment team played music to accompany some of the activities and throughout the day. This music could be really annoying and very loud at times. On Saturday 11th May the music was left on while no one from the activities team were present. It was so loud I couldn’t hear my own music through my headphones. It was awful rave type music you’d expect at a foam party in Ibiza; computer generated with a repetitive rhythm and not really something the demographic around the pool are likely to enjoy. A holidaymaker turned the speaker away from us however another, who it was now pointing towards, turned it back. This toing and froing went on for a while so we moved to the other pool to a- get away from the racket, b- so we didn’t have to witness a fight and c- because we were worried the speaker would end up thrown into the pool electrocuting the swimmers. Obviously pretty much everyone hated this music but none of the entertainment team were there to deal with this situation. The main restaurant is in the main building, by reception and is where breakfast, lunch and the evening meal is served. There is a good choice of food, some of it excellent, most of it very good good although it wasn’t always very warm. It’s a self service, buffet style restaurant and you can sit “outside or inside” although outside is still inside; you’re in a conservatory. They do open the windows on occasions though which are the full length of it. The restaurant is rather hot. The chairs are too low and too reclined for the tables and I’m pretty sure they weren’t designed to go together. As you look around the restaurant you see people perched on the edge of their chairs leaning forward or sat back dropping food down themselves. 7 months prior to this holiday I’d had open heart surgery. It had been a tough couple of years and we’d been looking forward to the break more than you’d believe. I still get breathless when moving around and should have researched our hotel better as you do have quite a bit of walking to do to get around the complex and quite a lot of stairs to climb. It wouldn’t have done me any harm as I now need to exercise however those with mobility issues might struggle. Those with breathing problems at rest might struggle with the heat in the rooms too given how poor the air con is. I know this review sounds mainly negative however we did have a lovely holiday. We didn’t use all the facilities so can’t comment on them. We met a few people who holidayed at this hotel repeatedly as love it so much. The staff were lovely and, other than the issues I’ve raised, the place is comfortable. However I would not consider it 5 star. In my opinion I’d say our room was a good 3 star and the rest of the facilities 3-4 star. To be 5 star (in my opinion) the air con needs replacing with a system which actually worked (honestly - the fan would have been more use, I can’t describe how hot the room was at night - I’ve said all this though!) and the ridiculous system of having to pay for tea and coffee in your own room be scrapped (at least for all inclusive customers). We paid a little extra for a bit of comfort to help us recover from a tough couple of years but I’ve known as good for less.